16 People Indicted In Auto-insurance Fraud Scheme

August 05, 1988|By Matt O`Connor.

Sixteen people have been indicted in an auto-insurance fraud scheme for filing claims for seven accidents that never took place, authorities said Thursday.

The alleged ringleaders, Michael West, 29, and his girlfriend, Evonia Covington, 22, recruited relatives and others to pose as injured parties in the phony accidents, defrauding two insurance companies of more than $12,000, the Cook County state`s attorney`s office said.

What gave this scheme a new wrinkle for alleged auto-insurance fraud was the boldness of the suspects. They went to the insurance companies`

offices to personally collect on the claims, according to Lisa Howard, a spokeswoman for State`s Atty. Richard M. Daley.

But authorities uncovered the scam after noticing, through the use of the Insurance Crime Prevention Institute`s computers, that the same car had been used in at least five of the phony accidents.

A Cook County grand jury indicted all 16 defendants with conspiracy to commit theft and 13 with felony theft, officials said.

West, of 5323 S. Federal St., is charged with 12 counts of theft and 7 counts of conspiracy in connection with the 7 phony accidents, while Covington is charged with 8 counts of theft and 4 conspiracy counts.

Other suspects include two brothers of West`s, his sister, an aunt, a cousin and Covington`s sister.

Authorities said West and Covington used the names of innocent policyholders when filing the false claims. Howard wouldn`t say how the couple obtained the names.

The two allegedly reported rear-end collisions to the insurance companies, claiming to be at fault in the accidents. The other defendants posed as drivers or passengers in the vehicles supposedly struck in the collisions, according to the indictments.

The defendants claimed injuries and negotiated on-the-spot settlements, known as quick-claims in the insurance industry, at the companies` claims offices, authorities said.

The settlements, ranging from $25 to $1,300, occurred between mid-1985 and mid-1987.